


Antumbra

by Chanonvic



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Gen, Kori doesn't get it, Light Angst, Like the lightest of light, Roy's a little shit, Stubborn Jason is stubborn, Sunburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:01:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25560001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chanonvic/pseuds/Chanonvic
Summary: He had continued watching his predecessor, taking in the golden skin while his own was pale and flushed with heat, just another way the universe saw fit to highlight the differences between them.It was that night Jason had decided to dye his hair for the first time.--Or, Jason's sunburn triggers a memory.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36
Collections: Summer Multifandom Rarepair Bingo





	Antumbra

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Antivigilante](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antivigilante/gifts).



> For antivigilante's birthday. 
> 
> Summer Rarepair Multifandom Bingo prompt: applying sunscreen
> 
> _antumbra (n): the region from which the occluding body appears entirely within the disc of the light source_

Jason grit his teeth as he ever-so-slowly reached up to pull his shirt down. He was doing his damnedest to avoid rubbing the material against the red-raw skin on his back, but it still stung as it settled against his body. He refused to flinch at the pain; he'd suffered broken bones, sprained joints, stabbings, gunshots, and  _ literal  _ death -- he refused to be done in by sunburn, of all things. 

After taking a deep breath, he walked out to the kitchenette/lounge hybrid of the resort suite he and the others were staying at for the weekend. Kori was already there, stretched out on a loveseat and soaking in the late-morning sun. "Good morning," she greeted without moving or opening her eyes.

"Morning," he grunted back. Emboldened by the fact that Kori couldn't actually see how bad his sunburn was, he attempted to walk normally. Jason made it to the refrigerator and braced himself to pull it open, barely holding back a hiss of pain as his muscles contracted and pulled the skin on the back of his arm tight over them. When Jason turned back toward the island counter to set down the protein shake he'd grabbed, Kori was looking at him, head tilted forward and a worried crease in her brow. 

"You're hurt," she said.

"It's nothing," Jason replied, "just a little sunburn."

"Did I hear someone say sunburn?" came Roy's sing-song voice. He walked into the lounge area from his bedroom, hand on his hip and a smug smile on his face. 

"I swear, Harper, if you say 'I told you so,' I will castrate you." Jason viciously tore the cap off his drink, forgetting his situation for a moment. He was violently reminded by the searing pain in his arms from the effort. 

Roy saw the clear discomfort and clutched his sides and laughed. "Looks like I don't have to say anything."

He walked into the kitchenette and clapped Jason on the shoulder, then leapt away from the lazy swing Jason tried to take at him. "Shut up," Jason said, pouting. 

"Sunburn?" Kori said as she sat up. The wrinkle of worry in her face had relaxed to curiosity. "Your sun can do such a thing?"

"Well, not always, and not to everyone," Roy said with far more enthusiasm than an impromptu Earth science lesson required. "Us redheads get it especially bad if we're not careful. It's just Jason, here, keeps forgetting he technically  _ is _ one."

"But this doesn't usually happen to either of you," Kori continued. "Do you use some sort of protection?"

Roy turned fully to Jason with a shit-eating grin. "Yeah. It's called  _ sunscreen _ . But Jay refuses to use the stuff, even after his dear, concerned best friend practically begs him to for his own good." 

Roy went on to explain to Kori more about sunscreen and melanin and tanning versus burning and the prognosis of the latter. Kori's attention was rapt, clearly having never considered a star anything other than a life-giving energy source, but Jason tuned them out. He took a sip of his drink as his mind reeled back to a half-formed memory: the feeling of cool ointment on the skin of his back while he watched Dick off in the distance frolicking -- yes,  _ frolicking  _ \-- in the water by himself.

As present-day Jason focused on the memory, he recalled more sensations: there was an occasional warm breeze in the shade of the umbrella Alfred had sat him under, and the wooden deck creaked as someone passed by. Over the railing, the water glittered in a blue band, and there Dick was, splashing about like a child. Jason had scoffed at the sight back then but deep down it wasn't irritation that made his stomach twist. It was something akin to resentment, though he was too young back then to untangle the snarled mess of an emotion. He had continued watching his predecessor, taking in the golden skin while his own was pale and flushed with heat, just another way the universe saw fit to highlight the differences between them.

It was that night Jason had decided to dye his hair for the first time.

Jason brought himself out of his reverie and scowled. "I refuse to be taken down by the  _ sun _ ," he said, though the declaration sounded childish even to him, so when Roy guffawed, he felt the corners of his own mouth tug upwards, too.

Roy doubled over. "The man has sliced and shot his way through a metric shit-ton of bodies, and the  _ sun  _ is his arch nemesis."

**Author's Note:**

> Lightly inspired by kayel's _"Burn"_ verse installment on FFN, _"Sun,"_ though with far less (explicit) slash.


End file.
